Huawei today announced that it has shipped over 200 million smartphones in 2018. That’s a sharp increase from 153 million smartphones that Huawei had shipped in 2017.

The significant increase in Huawei smartphone sales comes thanks to strong consumer interest in the company’s flagship P20 series. Since launch, Huawei has sold over 16 million units of its P20 series, with interestingly almost half of the users being female. The company’s Mate 20 series is also doing exceedingly well and has already crossed the 5 million units shipped mark in just two months of its release.

While popular, it was the success of Huawei’s mid-range nova series of smartphones that has allowed it to do so well in 2018. The company’s Nova 3 was the most popular selfie phone of 2018, while the nova 4 series has done well thanks to its full-screen display and unique design elements. Combined, Huawei’s nova series shipped over 65 million units in 2018.

The Honor 10 and Honor V10 from Huawei’s sub-brand Honor are also doing well in China, with the brand itself being ranked as number one for Internet-based smartphones.

In a span of around 8 years, Huawei’s smartphone business has seen a meteoric rise. In 2010, the company shipped a mere 3 million smartphones while in 2018, it managed to ship in excess of 200 million units. It was also the second-largest smartphone OEM in Q2 and Q3 beating Apple and just behind Samsung.

Our Take

Huawei’s growth is even more impressive when one accounts for the fact that its smartphones are banned from being sold in the United States. The company’s growth primarily comes from the Chinese smartphone market and pockets of Europe. With the smartphone market slowing, it remains to be seen if Huawei would be able to continue its impressive growth or falter just like Apple and Samsung.